Review Summary: Welsh quintet back-track their sound and deliver a grower of an album that will reward the patient, even if there is not too much that stands out as truly special.
Funeral For A Friend are not the first band ever to back-track on a change of musical direction and they definitely will not be the last. With their 4th full-length release 'Memory and Humanity', there is no doubt that the Welsh quintet have indeed back-tracked away from the more mainstream sounding 'Tales Don't Tell Themselves' (TDTT). A concept album which unfortunately did not find the wide-spread appeal that the band were hoping for, 'TDTT' may have attracted a few new fans, but it also dismayed some loyalists who could especially notice that many of the tracks simply felt out of place on the band's live set.
So where exactly does 'Memory and Humanity' sit in respect to the band's back-catalogue? Well, funnily enough, it does not mimic any of the three previous albums and instead tries to encompass the trio in order to represent Funeral For A Friend throughout their entire career. 'Memory and Humanity' is definitely not all-out post-hardcore like their debut, nor is it the hotch-potch of highlights and lowlights that was 'Hours'. Instead, it is an even bunch of cuts that holds interest throughout, yet never quite reaches the superb heights that the group have occasionally peaked at previously. In that sense, in distancing themselves from 'TDTT' here, they arguably did not learn enough from that experience!
Similar to many effective openers, 'Rules and Games' neatly sums up this album's sound in a sub 3 minute nutshell. Greeting with a thick crunching guitar riff that remains through the track's verses, the chorus then relatively effectively switches to more melodic guitar lines and vocals. The remainder of the first half of 'Memory and Humanity' then continues to lay the solid foundation in which the album is built upon. In truth, it is not exactly a stunning group of songs, nor will they capture the imagination of listeners immediately, but they do reveal themselves as rather strong growers upon further listening.
The standout of that first half is 2nd single 'Kicking and Screaming', which is probably the most mainstream accessible track on the back of its catchy conventionally structured chorus. Initially, the first 6 tracks do seem to blend into each other a little, yet variety is sufficient, especially on 'Maybe I Am' and the interestingly structured 'You Can't See The Forest From The Wolves', which misdirects with an acoustic beginning, before making fans reach for their air-guitars with another huge crunching riff. Then, at the mid-point of the album, the short unplugged-sounding ballad 'Building' may not be great in isolation, but provides the required interlude of sorts that leads into what are arguably the 3 best tracks on 'Memory and Humanity'.
'Beneath The Burning Tree', which acted as one-half of the double A side lead single, is the album's highlight. Combining all of the band's strengths well, guitars intricately wail away, the rhythm section keeps the momentum up and lead vocalist Matt Davies delivers not only a rousing sing-along chorus, but an involving near-emotional breakdown. The following ' Someday The Fire...' takes the same route as the earlier 'Kicking and Screaming', but tops it off nicely with gang vocals provided by fellow Welshmen LostProphets. The final component of the impressive trio is then the other half of the lead single; 'Waterfront Dance Club'. Probably the album's heaviest moment, it is a relentless musical assault containing some mesmerizing guitar-work from Kris Coombs-Roberts and an impassioned vocal delivery by Davies.
Including 13 tracks, 'Memory and Humanity' does not quite hold out until the very end, with two of the final three songs being nothing more than decent album filer. 'Charlie Don't Surf' simply drags, while the subtle electronic effects of closer 'Constant Resurrections' makes it seem like a cut song from 'TDTT'. Thankfully, they are split by the strong 'Ghosts', which contains more rousing impassioned vocals by Davies and the band's trademark dueling guitar approach which was such an attraction on the band's debut and makes a welcome return here.
With 'Memory and Humanity', Funeral For A Friend have once more delivered something significantly different to their previous releases. It may not seem like it initially as this is more of a summation of their first 3 albums, but in reality, this is very much an album that stands on its own... Especially when you consider that it was released only 17 months after its predecessor. More of a grower that will not strike listeners immediately, the musical intricacies of earlier recordings are back, however to a lesser extent, so is the band's weakness of not having songs that truly stand out as special. Ultimately, this is very much recommended and will reward those who are patient.
Recommended Tracks: Beneath The Burning Tree, Someday The Fire..., Kicking and Screaming & Waterfront Dance Club.
